USE OF THE PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS

The term proposal preparation instructions encompasses all information provided to a contractor regarding the format and contents of its proposal. These instructions are used to ensure that prospective contractors submit proposals that facilitate full evaluation of their expertise and ability to perform the required work.

Proposal preparation instructions should contain only information related to the development of the offeror’s proposal. Information that applies to activities taking place after contract award belongs in either the SOW or a contract clause, as appropriate. Proposal preparation instructions are used to (1) ensure appropriate coverage in the proposals, (2) standardize proposal format, and (3) require the submission of specific information.

To Ensure Appropriate Coverage

The primary purpose of proposal preparation instructions is to ensure that each proposal addresses the government’s areas of interest as expressed by the evaluation factors in Section M. The contractor should be required to structure its proposal in the same order of importance as the evaluation factors listed in Section M.

Section M presents each primary evaluation factor with a title and a short narrative illustrating the salient characteristics of the factor. The proposal preparation instructions should present each primary evaluation factor in the same manner. Repeating the narrative description from Section M reinforces the connection between Section M and the proposal preparation instructions.

Subfactors are used to amplify the primary evaluation factors; therefore, the subfactors should be presented somewhat differently. The subfactor narrative begins with a general statement (the same as used in Section M) followed by a statement of the specific information requirements that support the subfactor. The specific information requirements will vary depending on the circumstances, but they should amplify the general statement, explaining what information should be included in the proposals.

Information requirements should specify both form and content. These requirements may address the submission of charts or graphs, a discussion of methods and methodology or specific technical considerations, technical or management plans and schedules, staffing levels and labor mix, and any other information necessary to evaluate an offeror’s response to a particular evaluation subfactor.

To Standardize Proposal Format

A secondary purpose of the proposal preparation instructions is to make the evaluation process easier by standardizing the proposal format. Requiring adherence to the outline of the evaluation factors in Section M helps ensure that all proposals will present the information in the same format. Standardization makes the evaluation process easier because the evaluators will not need to search through differing proposal formats to find the necessary information. Standardization also assists offerors in their proposal preparation by eliminating the need for them to guess the proposal format that would be most acceptable to the government.

To Require Specific Information

The proposal preparation instructions may also be used to elicit specific information needed to amplify the initial SOW when all or part of the successful offeror’s proposal will be incorporated into the final SOW. Incorporation by reference is accomplished by inserting a clause in the contract to the effect that all, or specified parts, of the contractor’s proposal are incorporated into the contract by reference and including the incorporated portions as an attachment to the contract. The incorporated portions become part of the contract, and the contractor is legally required to perform accordingly.

Generally, incorporation by reference is used in instances where the requirements are difficult to describe, such as in software development, or there are a number of ways to meet the requirement. In such instances, a broad functional description of the requirement should be provided in the initial SOW and the proposal preparation instructions should require offerors to explain the details of how the work will be done. The successful offeror’s proposal would then be incorporated by reference (in whole or in part) into the final SOW.